Presowing radiation exposure of Chamomilla recutita L. seeds affects on flavonoid accumulation

Aim. Presowing radiation exposure of seeds is offered to apply as modification factor of secondary metabolites accumulation in medicinal plants. Aim of studying was to choose doses of both gamma- and X-ray exposure of Chamomilla recutita L. seeds that would lead to increasing synthesis of secondary metabolites and biomass. Methods. Both X- and gamma-radiation exposure of seeds, extraction of flavonoids, spectrophotometry assessment of flavonoid extracts, qualitative and semi-quantitative high effective liquid chromatography. Results. Presowing radiation exposure of Chamomilla recutita L. seeds increased both flavonoid production over control and yield of pharmacologically valuable raw material – inflorescence number per square. Chromatographical analyses indicated stable qualitative composition of Chamomilla recutita L. ethanol extracts; the exposure did not lead to synthesis of de novo components. Conclusions. Obtained data validate approach to apply presowing radiation exposure of Chamomilla recutita L. seeds (5–50 Gy dose rate) as modification factor increasing both its productivity and pharmaceutical value of medicinal plants. Keywords: Chamomilla recutita L., stimulating productivity, flavonoids, presowing exposure.